The Programme, week 4: Simon Manley

Things started going pretty badly at the beginning of the week as the weather deteriorated. In the cold and damp weather I had absolutely no motivation to go out in the park. The temptation to go to the pub and get lashed finally overcame me when I was away for the weekend in Ireland. Things took quite a nosedive as The Programme was replaced by Guinness for the weekend. But after a couple days of soul searching and guilt I joined a gym - I've been four times since the beginning of the week.

Despite the early setback I've been able to increase the distances I run. I can now do 30 mins of intensive cardiovascular work, whereas I could only do 20 before. The number of sit-ups I can do has increased from 60 to 80 and press-ups from 35 to 45. I don't think I've toned up massively but am looking a little trimmer. In terms of weight, I'm not worried if I stay at 11 stone. As long as I'm replacing fat with muscle I don't mind if it goes up by the end of The Programme.